Many of the European and North American readers of this blog are deep in the throes of winter and will celebrate a snowy white Christmas next week. It seems fitting, therefore, to wrap up this year’s Who Wore It Best polls with the most traditional of royal winter millinery- a black fur (either faux or real) Cossack-style brimless Papakha hat. The hats seen here span four decades and are warming the heads of royals from five countries. With that breadth, it seems this hat is a royal classic. The question remains, however, Who Wore It Best?

*Note- for clarification purposes, each of the following royal ladies has been referred to by their current title and not their title at the time the photograph was taken.

If we were able to turn back the clock twenty-five years, one of the designers we would be talking about most on this blog would be Frederick Fox. Australian born Freddie, as he was known, moved to London after completing his training and was called upon to make several hats for the Queen in the late 1960s. By the 1980s, he was not only making hats for Queen Elizabeth, but also the Queen Mother, Princess Alice, Princess Alexandra, Princess Anne, Princess Michael of Kent, the Duchess of Gloucester and the Princess of Wales. He held a royal warrant as “Milliner to the Queen” from 1974 until his retirement in 2002.

Frederick Fox passed away last week in his eighty second year. Here are a few of his hundreds of royal hats and some final words from the millinery genius himself.

Reader Arianna submitted a question I suspect many readers are wondering about: And now you must allow me a silly question, but I’m always wondering about it: how do these hats stay on? Especially the ones placed at an angle… Is there a comb inside? I think I’m not the only one among your followers who asks herself this question!

With the younger generation of royals taking center stage in the last few years, the classic cocktail hat has been reinvented and rebranded as the fascinator. These often whimsical fancies come in all shapes and sizes and give the impression that they are defying gravity; suspended in mid-air atop a well coiffed lady.

In my shop in southern California I have a wall of these little perchers and it is always the first stop for clients looking to play dress up, and they always ask the same question, “I love fascinators but how do I keep them on my head?”. There are as many answers to this question as there are heads, as everyone has a different sense of how a hat feels comfortable and every milliner has their own special trick on how to make it fit just right. Here are a few of the more commonly used options:

My personal favorite, as I find it to be the most comfortable for all day wear, is an elastic. Preferably the elastic should be the same color as the wearer’s hair and is worn under the hair at the back, resting below the bump on the back of the head. You can see an example of this here on Princess Marie of Denmark.

Probably the most common way to attach a fascinator is with a headband. One of the advantages for the designer of using a headband is one can be sure the hat is perched just so. A headband can only be worn one way ensuring perfect positioning every time. The milliner can choose to make the headband very narrow so that it blends in with the wearers hair as seen here on Zara Phillips or incorporate the headband into the design itself for a more seamless look, as seen here on the Countess of Wessex.

Zara Phillips, Dec. 25, 2012 in a Karen Henriksen designThe Countess of Wessex in a Jane Taylor design for William and Kate’s wedding, April 29, 2011

One of the more classic ways of keeping on a hat which is traditionally worn further back on the head, such as a pillbox style is with combs. Seen here on Princess Diana and Princess Beatrice, there is usually a wider comb at the front of the hat, acting as a true anchor and then floater combs or loops for hair pins on each side of the hat for added security.

Princess Beatrice in a Stephen Jones design worn for the Diamond Jubilee, June 5, 2012; Princess Diana while on tour of Australia in April 1983

Of course we can’t talk about any of this without touching on the most classic method of all for keeping ones hat in perfect position, the ever traditional hat pin. This method has been used for centuries and it is fool-proof although less than gentle on the hat! Hat pins are generally 8″ to 10″ in length and go first through the hat, then through the ladies hair and back out through the hat and can be elaborate with jewels or feathers, tone on tone like the one seen here on Queen Elizabeth or simple with a pearl tip as seen here on Queen Máxima.

Queen Elizabeth in a Philip Somerville design worn at a Buckingham Palace Garden Party, July 11, 2001Princess Máxima (her title at the time) in Fabienne Delvigne for a visit to Germany, April 12, 2011

Of course there are many other methods used but these are the most popular and in my opinion the most comfortable. Feeling secure in your hat is the most important thing, it should look and feel effortless!

Thank you so much, Jill, for sharing your hat knowledge with us. I now find myself looking at hats analyzing if there is a comb, elastic, a hidden headband or a hat pin! For those of you unfamiliar with Jill’s marvelous hat design work, do check out her website here.

The christening of little Prince George is only one week away. I thought today we might speculate on the kind of hat that Kate will choose for this event. So I ask you, dear readers- will Kate wear a hat for this historic event? If she does, what colour and style do you think it will be? To get the conversation started, here are my predictions:

Hat or no Hat? I think it’s a big yes for a hat! The christening will take place in the chapel at St. James Palace and the British royals consistently wear hats to any event that takes place in a church.

Colour? During her pregnancy, Kate wore a string of fairly sedate, neutral hats (see all of her maternity millinery here). Two of her maternity wardrobe hats were in pale pink but she didn’t wear blue at all. I’m not sure that was intentional but it’s a great colour on her and that’s my guess ( in a calm shade. Kate isn’t a woman who shows up in electric blue).

Style? For the most part, Kate’s hats have been small percher-style hats with little or no brim. While I love her in brimmed hats, I don’t think she will choose anything that will obstruct her face or a view of the baby, or shout “look at me!” in a photograph. I suspect she’ll go with something along the lines of Jane Taylor’s Poppy hat.

Here are the royal hats worn for the christening of the Queen’s grandchildren (except for Lady Louise and Viscount Severn, whose christenings were non-hatted affairs) to help inform your guesses:

Princess Anne with Peter, December 22, 1977 and Zara, July 27, 1981

Princess Diana with William, August 4, 1982 (and a better view of the hat in 1983) and Harry, Dec. 25, 1984

The Duchess of York with Beatrice, December 20, 1988 and Eugenie, December 23, 1990

The wedding of Viscount Linley and The Hon. Serena Stanhope twenty years ago today was a “mini” royal wedding – while not a prince himself, David Armstrong-Jones was the son of a princess and a member of the extended British Royal Family. And we all know that being a member of the extended British Royal family means there will be some great hats at your wedding! After looking at the bride’s veil and dress earlier today, let’s now turn our attention to the guests’ hats.

David’s mother Princess Margaret wore a black velvet pillbox hat topped in pomegranate coloured spiky feathers to match her crushed velvet coat. His sister, Lady Sarah Armstrong Jones, wore an unembellished rust coloured straw cloche. At the time, I thought the mix of flowing pant suit, velvet scarves, large earrings and her cloche was a little odd. I’m afraid that time has not changed my view.

Queen Elizabeth wore a salmon pink fabric covered hat with rounded crown and high, upturned, pleated brim. Her hat designer, Frederick Fox, had a taste for the dramatic and this is certainly evident here! Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (and grandmother of the groom) wore one of her signature veiled capulet hats with upturned front brim and side spray of fathers.

Lady Helen Taylor wore powder blue bowler hat with wide ribbon wrapped around the crown. Princess Diana was also in blue- a large blue lampshade style hat with white ribbon trim around the brim and wrapped around the crown designed by Philip Somerville. At the time, I believe some were surprised to see her at this wedding as she and Prince Charles had announced their separation ten months earlier and her future royal role was unclear.

Princess Alexandra of Kent wore a dove grey hat with rounded crown wrapped in a black ribbon and trimmed with flowers and net. I think this hat translates fairly well today, as do the hats of Julia Ogilvy (her daughter-in-law) in black and and the Duchess of Gloucester in dark teal blue.

The only foreign royals I could find at this wedding were Queen Anne-Marie of Greece and Princess Salimah Aga Khan. Queen Anne-Marie wore a large black (or chocolate brown?!) hat with an upturned brim and a high almost Puritan shaped pointed crown. That hat was a little too Halloween-esque for my taste. My favourite hat at this wedding was the brown capulet worn by Princess Salimah Aga Khan. The shape is so chic and the black band around the crown and trim around the upturned brim gives a bit of punchy contrast.

While Princess Salimah’s hat was my favourite, the most memorable hat of the day probably needs to go to the bride herself. The new Lady Serena Armstrong-Jones wore this cowgirl-meets-disco ball whizpopper designed by (who else?) Philip Treacy to depart on her honeymoon to Zimbabwe after the wedding. It’s something else, isn’t it?!

Serena’s mother Virginia looked very elegant in a purple picture hat with slightly curved brim (she is to the left of Princess Margaret, below). Her hat, like several others, has aged very well- surprisingly well, in fact. While many hats at this wedding do seem rather dated, there are an equal number that could easily be worn today. This fashion longevity warms my heart and makes me so pleased to be a fan of royal hats. As I sign off this post and wish Viscount and Viscountess Linley the happiest of anniversaries, I can’t resist asking- Which hat at this wedding is your favourite?

In some parts of the world today, St. Valentine’s Day is celebrated. Thinking about pink hearts and red flowers inevitably leads me to think of royal millinery inspired by this holiday.

The Classic Red Rose Bouquets

Princess Máxima of the Netherlands at a government function, January 26, 2012 The Countess of Wessex attending church with the British Royal Family in a headpiece designed by Rachel Trevor Morgan, December 25, 2009

The Love Knots

Queen Elizabeth visiting Staffordshire, March 31, 2006 and at Ascot, June 16, 2012

The Head-To-Toe Pinky Pinks

Princess Grace of Monaco visiting the Fifth Rose Show in Monza, Italy in May 1970Princess Letizia of Asturias (Spain) in a Pablo & Mayaya design at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, April 19, 2011Princess Mathilde of Belgium at National Day Celebrations, July 21, 2005

The Valentine’s Pink and Red Clash

Princess Diana on a state visit to Kuwait, March 14, 1989Princess Máxima of the Netherlands at a family wedding, August 27, 2005

The Vintage Pink Garden Roses

The Duchess of Cornwall at Ascot, June 17, 2009Princess Eugenie attending church with the British Royal Family, December 25, 2011

The Fuchsia Roses and Ruffles Explosion

Princess Haya of Jordan, Sheikha of Dubai, at Ascot, June 2012

And The Stylized Modern Hearts

Princess Victoria of Sweden (in a Fabienne Delvigne design) welcoming the Luxembourg Royal Family for a visit to Sweden, April 15, 2008
Princess Camilla, Duchess of Castro, at the wedding of Prince Georg of Prussia, August 2011

None of these hats, however, can top the heart-shaped spectacle that Princess Camilla, The Duchess of Castro (née Camilla Crocciani) wore to the wedding of Prince Albert of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock on July 2, 2011. This is a whole lotta pink-hearted hat love (ironically, at a wedding rife with rumors that the bride was trying to run away). It seldom happens but I think this hat puts me at a total loss for words.